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A Rotating Azimuthally Distributed Auroral Current System on Saturn Revealed by the Cassini Spacecraft

Guo, RL; Yao, ZH; Dunn, WR; Palmaerts, B; Sergis, N; Grodent, D; Badman, SV; ... Dougherty, MK; + view all (2021) A Rotating Azimuthally Distributed Auroral Current System on Saturn Revealed by the Cassini Spacecraft. The Astrophysical Journal Letters , 919 (2) , Article L25. 10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5. Green open access

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Abstract

Stunning aurorae are mainly produced when accelerated electrons travel along magnetic field lines to collide with the atmosphere. The motion of electrons often corresponds to the evolution of a magnetic field-aligned current system. In the terrestrial magnetosphere, the current system is formed at the night-side sector, and thus produces an auroral bulge at night. Due to the different energy sources between Saturn and the Earth, it is expected that their auroral current systems are fundamentally different, although the specific auroral driver at Saturn is poorly understood. Using simultaneous measurements of the aurora, particles, magnetic fields, and energetic neutral atoms, we reveal that a chain of paired currents, each of which includes a downward and an upward current branch, is formed in Saturn's magnetosphere, which generates separated auroral patches. These findings inform similar auroral current structures between the Earth and Saturn, while the difference is that Saturn's unique mass and energy sources lead to a rotational characteristic.

Type: Article
Title: A Rotating Azimuthally Distributed Auroral Current System on Saturn Revealed by the Cassini Spacecraft
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Planetary magnetospheres; Saturn; Aurorae
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10136334
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